Preliminary Aircraft Inspection

Every maintenance shop should have written procedures to address what constitutes a preliminary inspection, how that inspection will be performed, and how the article will be identified throughout the repair cycle. This inspection is usually an evaluation of an article to determine the customer requested work scope and the required maintenance or alteration actions. Compliance with SBs and ADs should also be determined. This inspection may involve a teardown or disassembly if the article is an engine, module, propeller, accessory, or subassembly of a larger component. The results of this inspection should be documented and may need to be communicated to the customer. The forms used to record this inspection should identify the article until the maintenance/repair cycle is completed. For some Fixed Base Operators (FOB) and repair stations this may include attaching the form to the article while it is still in the repair cycle. Other shops and repair stations that use more electronic means, such as bar codes, may not need to physically attach the form but another type of identification so that the status of the article can be determined as needed. Any defects or discrepancies noted during this inspection will need to be connected with corrective actions taken during the maintenance, using a discrepancy numbering system or similar arrangement. The repair facility should notify the customer of any defects that are outside the scope of the customer's authorized repair. Maintenance providers are responsible only for the work they are contracted to perform, not for all the work that needs to be performed. The procedures should address the following:

  1. Who (by title) will perform this inspection?
  2. How will the inspection be performed?
  3. When is this inspection performed?
  4. Is the repair station properly rated to perform this maintenance?
  5. Does the inspection include a functional test before disassembly?
  6. How will the inspection be recorded?
  7. If the inspection reveals discrepancies, how are they recorded?
  8. How does the repair station record corrective actions taken to correct any discrepancies?
  9. Do the records show the relationship between the discrepancies found and the corrective action taken?
  10. How is the customer notified of discrepancies found that are outside of the contracted work scope? How are those discrepancies resolved?
  11. Is the record of this inspection made part of the work order file (work package)?
  12. How is traceability of life limits and/or time since overhaul documented?
  13. How are the parts identified if acceptable and if not acceptable?
  14. What are the procedures to ensure the records (work package) are kept with the parts?
  15. Is there a procedure to ensure that current technical data is available before inspection?
  16. What are the procedures for detecting and reporting unapproved parts?
  17. Is there a procedure for reporting failures, malfunctions, or defects of an article?